Hi…wow does anyone else feel like December was just one big blur? I cannot believe Christmas and all the buildup has come and gone! So much fun, so crazy and chaotic, LOTS of work, endless cooking, food and cleanup…….and I loved every single minute of it. We had the good fortune to have hosted my family as well my incredible 96 year old grandmother…you heard right! I soooo hope just a smidgeon of her super incredible genes are in my body:) We had a blast…so much fun game playing, eating, cooking, entertaining, movie watching, you name it …..all that was on my wishlist was indeed accomplished.

On Christmas night, as we all sat together in my living room which looked all aglow with just the sconces on and candles lit, I for a brief moment looked around at all those I love and realized at that very moment that is what perfect feels like. We were all together in good health, safe and warm, and I felt so blessed at that very moment and to me, that was the essence of Christmas. So I feel incredibly grateful and will always cherish Christmas 2013.

I admittedly had a lot of fun decorating my home. Though I realized after years of collecting decorations that have red in them I am ready for a change. And had a “aha” moment while one day in Lord and Taylor’s holiday shop,  I spotted the most beautiful silvery and pale gray/blue garland. That is when I got my divine inspiration for a new direction. So I bought all they had and proceeded to transform my dining room with the new color scheme. By next year…I hope to extend it to the rest of the house. I may gather up all my beautiful decorations that have the red in them and sell them as one big lot, not sure. They have certainly seen me through some wonderful holidays…but change is good! So thought I would share a few final shots of the past few days when all decorations were completed.

I finally got my front door together. I kept it simple and elegant, lots of greens and magnolia leaves. I never got to do a few things I wanted to do, thanks to unexpected snowfalls and deep freezes so had to try to do what I could  in between when things thawed out…

Other festive vignettes around the house……

Every year I display my adorable ceramic holiday cupcakes in my domed displays……..

Just back from the local nursery with all my white holiday flowers ready to put into planters……

A Christmas gift to me from me started collected Royal Crown Derby’s Blue Mikado…..so pretty!

My dining room and its new gorgeous soft colored holiday decor…..

And I kept tweaking once I added all my white flowers…white paperwhites and white amaryllis!

 A few pics from my family Christmas party (as things were setting up)…..

Say hello to my GORGEOUS new blue pillows that I had made….in love with them (a Christmas present to myself:)

LOVE these pillows so much and got more of the velvet to make a tufted ottoman for my living room

Dessert is served…….

And Christmas day dinner getting set up…..

Since we needed two extra seats, set up this table for two….love a small intimate table, don’t you?

I just love setting up my table with the napkin rings, they always end up being such wonderful conversation pieces

Christmas night, my sons girlfriend and family were coming by so we set up drinks and a few things to nibble on…..

So that’s a wrap up of my holidays….so much fun, and so very memorable. Yes, my feet are tired and I feel a bit worn out but it was so worth all the effort, it was a truly wonderful and perfect holiday! I hope yours were the same.

 I am leaving for a much needed and much anticipated vacation to California. You can be sure my iPhone will be charged and ready to capture the beauty and inspiration that California always promises! I will not be around for the next week so look forward to catching up when I return on Jan. 5th. I do have a post planned to post on Jan. 1st and hope it will work (used the blogger scheduler to do this) so just in case,  I will wish you all now nothing but the best in 2014….may it bring you much love, peace and laughter.

Because of this trip…my “Christmas magic” contest dates are slightly changed. Instead of the deadline for submissions being Jan. 1st it is now Jan. 4th and the contest will run Jan. 5th through Jan. 7th. I will announce two lucky winners on Jan. 8th. Details are below……

 I also want to announce the start of my final contest for 2013, “Christmas magic”. I will be collecting pictures as of today through Jan. 4th.  I will hold the contest on Jan. 5th- 7th and announce the winner(s) on Jan 8th. As the name implies….please send your pictures of anything Christmas related, your decorated front door, a beautifully wrapped gift, a table set with your Christmas finest, your darling kids and pets are always a hit, whatever the name “Christmas magic” means to you! Since my “Hooray for the Holidays” post included some Christmas pictures, if you would like to use the entry you used for that please just email me to let me know and I will be happy to include it. I cannot wait to start getting your entries!! Remember-

• 2 entries per person (they must be your pictures, not downloaded from internet)
• Please in subject line when you email me put Christmas Magic (get tons of emails )